Mona Lisa Blossoming [Mass Market Paperback]

In the second book of Sunny's Monere series, about a race of people who are descendants of the moon, the first Mixed Blood Monere Queen Mona Lisa arrives in New Orleans to take over her new territory. With her are her two mates Warrior Lords Gryphon and Amber, her brother Thaddeus, a Mixed Blood family of three, and three other guards in her service. Mona Lisa knows that she's a target because of her Mixed Blood and that there are those who wish to do her harm--most notably Queen Mona Louisa whose New Orleans territory Mona Lisa now inhabits.

This book is more focused on Mona Lisa's acclimation to her status of Queen and all it entails. Her new estate comes with more than 400 inhabitants, and she has know way of knowing which of them wish to serve her and who are still loyal to Mona Louisa. Another problem is that now that at the end of Mona Lisa Awakening, she found that she did indeed have another form, a Bengal tiger, and since this discovery Mona Lisa has been terrified of letting the beast out of its cage. The majority of this book is spent with Mona Lisa trying to come to terms with her newfound power, to tap into her powers as a healer, and to unleash the beast within.

Mona Lisa Blossoming was good, but I really enjoyed Mona Lisa Awakening and I didn't have the same sense of urgency and excitement that I felt when I read the first book in the series. Still, it was nice to see some familiar faces--most notably, Prince Halcyon. The attraction between Halcyon and Mona Lisa is palpable in every interaction and I can't wait to see what Sunny has in store for them in the future. Similarly, I was interested to see how Sunny would handle Mona Lisa's two lovers, Gryphon and Amber, as I was sure that their sharing arrangement wouldn't work out for long. I was pleasantly surprised by how amicably it worked out. Overall, if you enjoyed Mona Lisa Awakening, I think for sure you should check this book out. It's got the same passionate, erotic material as the first book, and Mona Lisa is one of my favorite heroines because she doesn't take crap from anyone, but is vulnerable at the same time. The flawed matriarchal society of the Monere has become one of my favorite paranormal worlds and I'm eager to see what happens next.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Mona Lisa has survived multiple threats against her, fought fellow Queens to defend herself and her men and her friends, and defeated a group of rogue males. She's found her orphaned brother she never knew and taken him in. That's all before the book even starts! Now Mona Lisa has come to Louisiana to take her seat as the new Queen of the territory. Little did she know her greatest battles were just beginning.

Now Mona Lisa must adapt to being a leader of hundreds, deal with the subjects who don't necessarily think they need to follow a Mixed Blood Queen, protect her family, learn the customs of her new life, and juggle her multiple lovers. When it becomes apparent she has new enemies to fight in addition to her powerful old ones, she must prove once more just how formidable an enemy she makes. Possibly even worse, her inner beast she has been fighting for years wants to be loosed and Mona Lisa is not sure she can control it. What's a Queen to do?

Mona Lisa Blossoming picks up shortly after Mona Lisa Awakening concludes. As such, keep in mind that while this book does stand alone for the most part, many references are made to events from the previous book and is easier understood having read the prior novel. And whatever you do, do NOT read the novella in the anthology On the Prowl before reading this book! I read that book before this one and as a result a huge event that occurs at the end of Mona Lisa Blossoming was completely ruined for me. Since I already knew what happened I lost out on the shock factor that makes the conclusion so important.

Once again Sunny's skill at world building is exquisite. She draws her readers into the world of the Monère so we feel as if it is real and we will run into one of Mona Lisa's people down the street. The societal interactions between "classes" plays as big of a role as the characters do since everything they do is based on where they fall in ranking.

The title of this book is quite appropriate to the story as well. For in this installment of the series, we see Mona Lisa come into her own and blossom into the powerful Queen that she is. Also, having discovered her animal form and how the change affects her, Mona Lisa is terrified of her "beast." She must come to accept her animal nature before she can assume the power and authority due to her. However, the plot does suffer here and there, with more emphasis placed on telling us what is happening rather than showing us.

Mona Lisa Blossoming is every bit as dark, sexual, and graphic as Mona Lisa Awakening, so sensitive readers may again be greatly disturbed by some of the scenes. The violence is very detailed and the sex scenes extremely explicit. Also, as hinted at earlier, the end of this book is full throttle, very shocking and very upsetting, and most definitely not a happy ending. However, intuitive readers will pick up on the fact that the conclusion may not be quite as final as you would think and may get your curiosity bubbling to the surface.

Character interaction is what I find so captivating about this series. There is so much interplay between everyone that I often wish the story wasn't told in first person so I could get into the heads of everyone rather than just Mona Lisa. I'd love to know what some of these folks are really thinking and feeling about their arrangements. Amber and Gryphon are back, along with several more men who are oh so enticing. Best of all though, my favorite character, Prince Halcyon, gets more "screen time" here to develop his relationship with Mona Lisa. I adore his character and would love to see him grow an even more personal connection with Mona Lisa. Yet some of the other characters I love seem to fade into the background and I miss getting to see them further developed.

Mona Lisa Blossoming is another good addition to the Monère series though there is still plenty of room for improvement and further development of the story.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, October 2007. All rights reserved.

Did none of the editors or publishers care that this author copied from Laurel K. Hamilton and Anne Bishop? LKH doesn't have a patent on female leads having male harems, strong and tall blond warriors who hide behind an icy facade to hide behind, or supernaturals glowing and healing through sex. And Bishop doesn't solely own the idea of a matriarchal society where Warlords serve Queens, Queens are the heart of the people and literally sustain them, Queens having a leash on their men, or transitioning to demon dead.

But anyone who has read Merry Gentry and Black Jewels can clearly see that Sunny blatantly copied from these books.

Daemon - Halcyon
Saetan - Blaec
Daemon is his father's mirror, as copied by Halcyon looking exactly like Blaec, but Blaec having silvered hair at the temples, just like Saetan

Rosemary the tall, built-like-a-linebacker cook is Mrs. Beale

Frost - Amber
Gryphon - Doyle

The entire caste and hierarchical structure of the Monere is copied from Bishop's Black Jewels. She slightly renamed Warlord Princes to Warrior Lords, gave them medallions instead of jeweled necklaces, gave the give and take the Queens from Black Jewels do to the land into "Basking", and didn't even rethink the demon dead angle.

... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I can't believe this got published, received good reviews and awards!

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

What kind of world do we live in that copied ideas are rewarded? This is so wrong.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 32 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars